Interpretive Resource

Still Life: Corner of a Table, 1873
Henri Fantin-Latour (1836-1904)
Oil on canvas, 37 5/16 x 49 3/16 in. (96.4 x 125 cm)
Discussion
Painted at the height of France’s economic and cultural supremacy, this masterpiece of nineteenth-century still-life painting records a moment in bourgeois Parisian life. Fantin-Latour’s visual sensibility was molded by the great classical tradition of French still-life painting and his pursuit of an almost photographic realism. What can we learn by looking closely at the items arranged on this creased white tablecloth? Describe what you see. How does the artist suggest the different materials of each item (crystal, silver, and china)? Try to imagine what may have taken place just before the scene we look at. Who are the people who have just left the gathering around this table? Where does the artist position the viewers? What items on this table might you have in your home? How do all these clues together form a moment in Parisian life?

Activities
1. Both Gustave Caillebotte and Henri Fantin-Latour painted modern subjects realistically and expressed a sense of time momentarily arrested. Compare and contrast the subjects of Caillebotte’s Paris Street; Rainy Day to Fantin-Latour’s Corner of a Table. Do you think that any of the people in Caillebotte’s painting might have been present at Fantin-Latour’s elegant table? What elements in each painting are similar? Which are different? How are light and shadow handled by each of these artists?

2. After examining the relationships of the individual items found in Corner of a Table, imagine this painting as a stage set. In small groups, develop objects on the table into characters (wine decanter, china cup, wine glass, sugar bowl, pitcher, and fluted bowl) in a one-act play. Consider the function, shape, and reflective quality of each item (i.e. fragile, luminous, or transparent) when assigning each item an identity. Create dialogue among these objects and present your plays to the class.

3. The elegant Parisians who used the objects in Fantin-Latour’s still life are not present, but the careful observer can learn many things about them anyway. Assemble your own still lifes by selecting, arranging and drawing articles that are important to you, using these objects to reveal something about yourself. Consider scale (large or small), relationship of objects (near or far), and how you might involve the viewer in your story.

4. Fantin-Latour painted Still Life: Corner of a Table, during France’s economic recession. Research the period of time after the Franco-Prussian War though the depression of 1870-1879. Summarize the sequence of events that led to these economic problems. How would these conditions have affected the life and work of Fantin-Latour and his artist friends? [For further investigation into the French economy during this time, see Denvir, Chronicle of Impressionism: A Timeline History of Impressionist Art.]

5. Fantin-Latour, like other artists of this time, loved the music of Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Robert Schumann (1810-1853). Listen to selections from both composers and think about their musical themes. Why do you suppose this was considered new music? Research the lives and works of either of these composers. Are there any similarities between Fantin-Latour’s artistic concerns and those of Wagner and Schumann? Create a list of words which describe the music, and another list of words which describe Fantin-Latour’s painting. Can the same words be used to characterize two completely different art forms?